Corporate Travel Policy: How to Create and Enforce

The 2025 GBTA and ASTA Business Travel ROI study indicates that companies with a structured, well-governed approach to business travel report up to 30 percent higher revenue. It also revealed that a strong travel policy becomes an important performance driver.

Today, a travel policy isn't a dusty PDF—it’s a dynamic, tech-driven engine that powers cost savings, safety, and employee happiness. If your policy still lives in an email attachment, it’s time for an upgrade. Here is the ultimate guide to building a modern corporate travel policy that actually works.

What is a corporate travel policy and why do you need one?

A corporate travel policy is a set of rules and guidelines that define how employees book travel, what they’re allowed to spend, and how expenses are approved and reimbursed. The goal isn’t to restrict employees — it’s to create clarity, fairness, and cost visibility.

A core part of the corporate travel program, a travel policy connects finance, HR, managers, and travelers. It provides structure and offers some key benefits:

• cost management – sets spending limits and procedures to control airfare, lodging, and other travel expenses;
• employee safety – covers insurance, emergency contacts, and cancellations to fulfill the duty of care obligation;
• legal compliance – ensures travel expenses meet tax regulations and audit standards, reducing misclassification risks;
• efficient reporting – simplifies receipts, per diems, and documentation to speed up reimbursements; and
• fairness – standardizes support and reimbursements across teams for equity.

From a tech perspective, it defines business logic and rule engine configuration for booking tools, travel and expense management systems, and duty of care solutions. It shapes how travel is managed in practice — something we’ll explore in more detail later.

What a corporate travel policy covers

A travel policy covers the essentials of business travel end-to-end, from booking to approval, reimbursement, and safety. Here’s what’s typically included.

Booking rules. This section explains which channels employees must use — whether an online booking tool, a TMC, or approved direct bookings — and outlines preferred suppliers to ensure negotiated rates and visibility. It also defines how far in advance trips should be booked and clarifies what “lowest logical fare” means in practice: selecting the most cost-effective flight that still makes sense in terms of time and convenience.

Air travel guidelines. Here, companies define how cabin class is selected, often based on flight duration or role, and clarify when low-cost carriers are acceptable. It explains upgrade eligibility, sets how changes and cancellations should be handled, and specifies which ancillary services — such as baggage or seat selection — are reimbursable.

Accommodation policy. It address hotel spending limits, which often vary by city, and encourage the use of preferred hotel programs. They may also set basic safety and location standards and clarify when alternative lodging options are allowed (if at all).

Ground transportation guide. This section covers rental car categories, expectations concerning taxi and rideshare use, and when public transportation is appropriate.

Expense and reimbursement rules. This part defines how employees are paid back for travel costs. This includes per diems and other allowances, corporate credit card usage, receipt requirements, approval workflows, and timelines for submission. The policy may also clarify how meals, alcohol, entertainment, and bleisure extensions are handled.

Duty of care and safety. This section explains how travel risks are assessed, what employees should do in emergencies, what insurance coverage is required, and what additional steps apply when traveling to higher-risk destinations.

International travel guidelines. If the company operates internationally, the policy may include guidance on visas, vaccinations, passports, and other required travel documents to ensure compliance with entry regulations.

Sustainability. Finally, many organizations now add a sustainability section. This may encourage lower-emission transportation options, outline how carbon emissions are tracked, and promote the use of environmentally responsible suppliers.

To make the policy fully operational, it’s also helpful to include an introduction or appendix outlining general travel governance. This part should clarify who owns and manages the travel program, who employees should contact when they have questions — whether an internal travel manager, HR representative, or TMC specialist — and how approvals and escalations are handled. It can also briefly explain what happens in cases of non-compliance and how often the policy is reviewed.

Corporate policy templates and examples

You can use the outline above as a starting point to craft your own travel policy.

Depending on your company’s size, structure, and internal processes, the document can be kept relatively simple – like these from Workable or PandaDoc – or developed into a more detailed framework, similar to those from Perk or Navan.

Engine also offers a useful collection of policy templates.

For inspiration, you can also look at real-world examples across different styles — from the highly formal policy of the Commonwealth Secretariat to the more informal, culture-driven approach used by Oda.

How to create a corporate travel policy: best practices

Creating a corporate travel policy isn’t about writing rules. It’s about designing a system that supports how your company actually works. Avoid generic templates; instead, architect your policy to mirror your specific workflows, tech stack, and internal culture.

Define the purpose

Start with a question: What is business travel supposed to achieve in our company?

For some organizations, travel is primarily sales-driven. For others, it supports client delivery, internal collaboration, or executive strategy. The purpose shapes the policy.

Let’s say you take a generic template that says, “Employees must book the lowest fare.” But your sales team is flying 20 hours a month to close million-dollar deals. Forcing them into a middle seat on a 6:00 AM budget flight might save $200 – but cost you a $1 million contract because the salesperson arrived exhausted and resentful.

So if travel generates revenue, your policy should enable it — not suffocate it. If it’s about internal collaboration and cost discipline is the priority, the guidelines should reflect that.

Analyze your travel data

Before writing anything, look at your travel data. Where is the money actually going? Are employees booking last-minute? Are they bypassing the approved booking tool? Are hotel rates inconsistent across cities?

Patterns tell you where structure is needed. If most overspending happens because of late bookings, the solution isn’t tighter hotel caps — it’s advance booking rules.

A travel policy should solve existing friction, not create new ones. Besides, such an analysis can help you identify areas for improvement, for example, a high-volume route where the company could negotiate better rates with preferred vendors.

Involve stakeholders

Although drafting a travel policy is usually the responsibility of the travel manager, it often falls short when developed in isolation. Finance cares about cost control. HR cares about employee experience. Procurement cares about supplier agreements. Leadership cares about business outcomes.

Business travelers themselves have challenges, preferences, and expectations that have to be considered.

Aligning these perspectives early prevents conflict later. It also makes enforcement easier — because everyone understands why the rules exist.

Establish clear, sensible guidelines and limits

Turn objectives and collected insights into clear, actionable rules. Combine structure with flexibility – balanced policies outperform those that are either too rigid or too loose.

If a policy is too strict, employees will book outside the system to get what they need to do their jobs. For example, requiring three levels of manager approval for a $150 flight creates unnecessary friction. Or if an employee is attending a conference that offers discounted rates at a hotel outside your preferred supplier list, it may be more practical — and more economical — to allow that option.

Netflix is often cited for its minimalist five-word travel guideline: “Act in Netflix’s best interest.” This reflects a high-trust culture, but most organizations need more structure. If rules are too vague, costs become unpredictable, and compliance drops.

Today’s policies must also reflect modern work patterns. With hybrid and remote work, travel is often less routine and more purposeful — team offsites, collaboration sessions, and internal gatherings are increasingly common. Policies may need to clarify which types of remote-work-related travel are eligible for reimbursement and under what conditions.

Bleisure travel adds another layer. When employees extend business trips for personal time, the policy should clearly define what portion of the trip is covered by the company, how cost differences are calculated, and how insurance and liability are handled.

Without clear guidance, gray areas quickly turn into disputes. The solution is balance.

• Set clear limits for major cost drivers (airfare, hotels, booking channels).
• Avoid micromanaging low-risk expenses.
• Align approval processes with the level of spend and risk.
• Clarify boundaries for hybrid travel and bleisure extensions.

At the same time, protect fairness through a structured exception process. Exceptions should not be granted through informal conversations or side agreements. Instead, the policy should mandate written justification and documented approval from the appropriate manager or travel program owner.

Keep it simple

Write for humans, not lawyers. If your policy is 100 pages long and sounds like a legal contract, employees won’t read it. BCD research states that 43 percent of policies are under 10 pages.

Use clear language and give examples and reasoning behind the rules. For example, if the policy directs employees to specific hotel chains, mention that your company has negotiated corporate rates and that special amenities are included, e.g., “The XYZ hotel is a preferred vendor because it provides secure, vetted transport for our team”.

A good test: If a new hire reads it once, can they understand how to book a trip without asking five follow-up questions?

How to enforce a travel policy

Enforcing the travel police — consistently, fairly, and without damaging employee experience — is where most companies struggle.

Communicate the policy

The biggest policy-related challenge companies report is educating travelers about the policy.

To ensure a broad reach, use multiple communication channels: Send a clear announcement email, present the policy in team meetings, publish it on your internal portal, and include it in onboarding materials for new hires.

Employees should not only know what the rules are — they should understand why they exist and how they benefit both themselves and the company. When people see travel policy as a system that protects budgets, improves safety, and enables smarter spending — rather than as a set of restrictions — compliance improves with far less effort.

Embed travel policy into technology

The most successful enforcement is one that the traveler doesn't even feel. By embedding your rules into software, you make compliance the path of least resistance.

Online booking tool (OBT). Whether in a standalone OBT or via a TMC-managed platform, policy controls should be embedded directly into the search, selection, and booking workflow:

• supplier prioritization – to display preferred vendors at the top of the search results;
• soft stops – to flag out-of-policy options, but still allow booking with justification;
• hard stops – to block non-compliant purchases or bookings that exceed policy thresholds; and
• pre-trip approvals – to automatically alert a travel manager for approval before ticketing.

Expense management system. Your T&E platform should seamlessly align with your travel policy by automating key processes for both travelers and the finance team.

On the traveler’s side, a mobile app can simplify tasks like submitting receipts and tracking expenses in real time, ensuring that all required documentation is captured before the trip is over. If an employee exceeds policy limits, the system can automatically flag those expenses, prompting them to provide justification for any overspending.

For the travel manager or finance team, the platform streamlines the approval workflow by routing exceptions to the right person for review, all while generating detailed reports to monitor compliance and identify areas for cost savings.

Corporate credit cards. Corporate credit cards help control spending by setting limits for the entire trip or for specific categories such as meals and lodging. Travel managers can also configure restrictions on noncompliant purchases (e.g., luxury hotels or business-class flights).

Duty of care and risk management systems. By requiring bookings through approved channels, companies ensure trips are captured in their duty-of-care system. This allows the organization to track traveler locations, send risk alerts, and provide emergency assistance.

When employees book outside approved systems, the organization loses visibility into traveler movements — increasing operational and legal risk exposure.

Keep in mind that your travel program may run on a single, all-in-one platform or on a combination of specialized tools. Regardless of the setup, the key is to configure each system so that its settings reflect and support your travel policy.

Today, corporate travel software increasingly adopts AI to support workflows. Instead of relying on fixed rules alone, intelligent systems can analyze booking patterns, adjust price thresholds, flag unusual behavior, and detect compliance risks in real time. Over time, machine learning models can spot recurring exception patterns and recommend policy refinements.

Incentivize compliance

Enforcement is important — but positive reinforcement can be just as powerful. Instead of focusing solely on penalties for non-compliance, companies can encourage the right behavior by rewarding it, even though surveys suggest this approach is still uncommon in corporate travel programs.

For example, companies can

• recognize departments with high compliance rates;
• share quarterly savings reports to show how responsible booking supports company goals;
• allow small flexibility perks (e.g., seat selection or loyalty point retention) when bookings stay within policy; and
• simplify approval processes for compliant travelers.

Some organizations even reinvest travel savings into team initiatives, training budgets, or employee benefits. This makes compliance feel collaborative rather than restrictive.

Monitor performance, compliance, and employee satisfaction – and adjust the policy if needed

Enforcement doesn’t end once the policy is launched and embedded into systems. Ongoing monitoring is what keeps it effective, relevant, and aligned with business goals.

Track performance and compliance metrics, such as

• overall policy compliance rate,
• booking channel adoption,
• average ticket price compared to benchmarks,
• advance booking behavior, and
• frequency of exception requests.

These numbers show whether the policy is working as intended — or whether certain rules are being ignored, bypassed, or overused.

Gather feedback through short surveys or post-trip questionnaires. Are approval processes too slow? Are hotel caps unrealistic in certain cities? Is the booking tool intuitive? Identifying friction points early helps prevent off-system booking and resentment.

Use this combined data — cost performance, compliance trends, and traveler feedback — to fine-tune the policy. Tighten controls where misuse is common. Relax rules that create an unnecessary burden. Adjust approval flows if they slow down business.

Define a practical review frequency for your policy. BCD reports that on average, over half of companies revise their travel policy every couple of years or more often, while three in ten do so only when needed.

Common policy mistakes: The “Don’t do this” checklist

Even well-intentioned policies can fall short if they overlook key details. Here’s a quick recap of the main pitfalls to avoid — a summary of the critical points we’ve already discussed that you can double-check in your policy draft.

Don’t overcomplicate approvals. Multiple layers of authorization for low-cost trips create delays and frustration.

Don’t make rules unrealistic. A hard limit of $200 for a hotel in London could be unreasonable. During a major conference, a broom closet will cost $400. Use a dynamic approach or “percentage above market” rules to keep the policy realistic. This allows the policy to adjust automatically based on current market rates, ensuring that pricing limits stay relevant. For example, you might allow employees to book up to 10 percent above the average market price to accommodate fluctuations in travel costs.

Don’t ignore traveler experience. Cost control matters — but productivity and comfort also affect performance.

Don’t forget the small stuff. Many policies obsess over airfare but forget Wi-Fi, checked bags, and airport parking. Ancillaries can add quite a bit to your travel spend if not capped.

Don’t rely on a PDF alone. A policy that isn’t embedded into booking and expense systems won’t be consistently followed.

Don’t allow informal exceptions. Approvals through private chats undermine fairness and transparency.

Don’t avoid the emergency fast-track. Policies often get stuck in approval loops. Think of creating a bypass for urgent, last-minute travel: For example, configure the system to send a mobile notification to the manager, allowing one-tap approval while automatically logging the justification for audit purposes.

Don’t make it a one-way conversation. If you don't have a mechanism for employees to give feedback, e.g., “This preferred hotel is in a dangerous neighborhood”, your policy will eventually become a liability rather than a safety and efficiency tool.

Don’t forget to review the policy. An outdated policy quickly becomes irrelevant.